Best Shopify Themes? Handy Checklist To Find One

What are the Best Shopify Themes, ever? If you ever caught yourself asking that question, it’s understandable. The answer, however, isn’t a one-line quickie.

It’s impossible to point out a single theme. But we can all have a quick mental checklist (copy, print, and laminate this for a physical version. I don’t mind).

Individual “Shopify Theme” sellers will claim whatever they need to claim ( the best, the fastest, the easiest Shopify theme to use, and more).

There are Shopify themes available for free. There are some paid ones as well. I recommend a few Shopify themes myself.

Then, there are third-party Shopify theme sellers (available on Theme Forest, Template Monster, and more). This doesn’t account for individual creators and experts available on call to build custom Shopify Themes for you.

You know that. I know that.

What most of us miss are the little things.

The hidden value of some of the best Shopify themes is not just about looks, Awwwards, or some other things we take for granted.

What Is a Good Shopify Theme?

It’s not what we think. So, it’s not about who made it, how you got it, how much you spent for it (or didn’t), and how pretty it looks.

None of that really makes you hard cash. For eCommerce businesses, this means revenue, sales, and profits.

I’ll save you years of time, agony, trouble, and unnecessary expenses by saying this up front: If you run a business, everything circles around your business. The theme you should pick is the one that should ultimately allows you to make money. Period.

How does a Shopify Theme help you make money? Good themes “don’t get in the way”. They don’t cause you to drain precious man-hours down the drain just trying to “fix this, fix that”.

Good Shopify themes are created taking everything you’d need for your eCommerce store to succeed — Liquid best practices, coding best practices, marketing-specific features (such as popups, just to start with), and will require zero maintenance.

Looks good. Works Even Better

We are humans. Perceptions are everything for us.

Good looks matter when it comes to eCommerce branding. Extended to themes then, it’s imperative that the best Shopify Themes are also some of the best looking ones (but looks are perceptive).

If any of the Shopify themes you are looking at allows you to mentally cross off this requirement, you can then look at how the Shopify theme works.

  • Is it a good looking Shopify theme?
  • Is it fast? Do the pages load fast?
  • If needed, does the theme give you enough tools (and features) to make changes, tweaks, additions, deletions, working with specific web elements, and to bolt on eCommerce features for your store?
  • Is the Shopify theme SEO-ready? Does it allow for eCommerce Blogging? Is the theme primed for a content-driven marketing strategy for your eCommerce brand?
  • Does it packed with eCommerce marketing specific features? — product reviews, currency converters, popups, promotion timers or countdown timers, and so on?
  • Does the Shopify theme use dynamic checkout or has the ability to work with Shopify Checkout, Shopify Shop Pay, and other such awesome features?

Never Flinching, Always-on Support

Do you know why some WordPress themes like GeneratePress are so successful? You’d think that it’s only because GeneratePress has a free version available for everyone to use, but it also comes with some fantastic features, takes care of WordPress Page Speed, has a loaded premium version of GeneratePress, and fantastic plugins.

It’s not just that.

What really makes GeneratePress fantastic is dependable and rock-solid customer support. This is also the reason why brands like WPMUDEV do well (in the world of WordPress).

When everything else feels the same (almost), it’s unwavering commitment to customer support that truly stands out (at a time when it’s incredibly hard to stand out).

Shopify Themes That Give You More For the Dollar

Quick question: Do you just need a pretty-looking Shopify theme for your brand? Or do you need a Shopify theme that has a lot more under the hood to help you further business goals?

Your choice of Shopify themes should meet the following rules:

  • Affordable to buy, or free to use (whichever fits your needs right now).
  • Fits the niche (Personal care? Fashion? Pet supplies?) of your eCommerce brand?
  • Plays well with Shopify’s eco-system (other Shopify Apps, Shopify’s native Apps, and more)
  • Packs a lot under the hood: other services such as Shopify Speed Optimization, eCommerce Marketing tools, Design management features, backend Optimization, and so on.
  • Best Shopify themes should give you the flexibility to tune, tweak, change, add, delete and edit elements, pages, or the entire theme (if needed). You might find the need to add eCommerce subscriptions (and ways to play well with Shopify Subscription apps), launch pre-orders for products you are about to launch, optimize checkout (and maybe use Shop Pay), tweak eCommerce product pages, and so on.

I could have said “Try it out and see” but you don’t have time for it.

Your business can’t wait for you to experiment.

Looking for some inspiration and help choosing the best Shopify theme? Try this:

50+ Great Online Store Designs For Entrepreneurs

The Best Shopify Themes For Your Online Store

How Do You Pick The Best Theme For Your Online Store? Take a Quiz

Shopify Booster Theme: The Best Shopify Theme, Ever?

Asking these questions and thinking in these lines will help you make better decisions when it comes to choosing Shopify themes for your eCommerce business.

What, according to you, are best Shopify themes out there?

Tell me all about it on Twitter, LinkedIn, or my LinkedIn Brand page.



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